Sunday, March 16, 2008

Eternal Memory: Metropolitan Laurus

His Eminence, Metropolitan Laurus of Eastern America and New York, First Hierarch of the Russian Orthodox Church Outside Russia, has reposed in the Lord.

From what I have heard, he served the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Friday, then felt too ill to perform tonsures later that evening. He was found in his "skete" (his small cell a few hundred yards from the monastery) this morning, having reposed in his sleep.

The Lord chose to receive Vladyka Laurus on the Sunday of Orthodoxy.

The Church on earth has lost a great hierarch, pastor, teacher, and monk. Many, many people are now spiritually orphaned. I myself have known Vladyka Laurus for thirty years. It is almost impossible to imagine Church life without him.

I will post news on funeral arrangements, etc., as they become available. The monks at Jordanville are currently preparing his body, and will soon move it to the main church.

Please pray for the soul of the newly-departed servant of God, Metropolitan Laurus.

13 comments:

I am shocked, and overcome with grief, to hear the news. He was chosen by God to guide our Church (yes, mine too, for I was received into the Holy Church in a parish of the Russian Church Abroad and so call it my home) for such a time as this: to restore the unity of the Russian Church, torn asunder by wiles of the evil one. May he hear from Christ our God, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant." May Vladika's memory be eternal!

It is a great and wonderful consolation to me to know that the Lord called him today, on the Sunday of Orthodoxy. That, to me, is confirmation that his life and work were God-pleasing. Of all days -- the Lord chose today. It leaves me breath-taken.

When my head clears sufficiently I'll share some of my recollections. While I didn't know him any better than hundreds of others, my entire life in the Church seems to have been under his protecting wing.

For Thou art the Resurrection, the Life, and the Repose of Thy servant Metropolitan Laurus who has fallen asleep, O Christ our God, and to Thee we send up glory, with Thy Eternal Father, and Thy Holy and Good and Lifegiving Spirit, both now and ever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

How will he stand before God to answer for the countless tears and anguish he has caused. For the tearing apart of the church abroad. Families torn asunder because of this man... this betrayer of all our ancestors.

I am mind-boggled by the lack of Christian kindness and humility of some. My own family has suffered being torn asunder with the reunification issue. I myself have very mixed feelings. But, let it be said that Vladika had the sight and was much closer to God than us pitiful argumentative people. He prayed for answers and did not rely on his judgement, but God's. Regardless of political issues, I loved him with all my heart for all 36 years since he first baptized me as a child. I know that he never betrayed anyone, he saw what the rest of us could not see. Eventually I believe we will. Vechnaya Pamyat Vladika, we will miss you terribly.

I know exactly what you mean. My parents (my father is a priest) and three sisters have all left over this issue, and joined one of the "protest" jurisdictions. I've always had my own reservations about the whole question of unity, but there's one thing that I have never doubted: that our bishops are honestly doing what they believe to be God's will. Vladyka Laurus could have made his life much easier and more comfortable by not coming to terms with the new situation in Russia. But he followed his conscience. As I've remarked several times before, the fact that the Lord called him to Himself on the Sunday of Orthodoxy seems to me confirmation that he had indeed fulfilled God's will.

There must be some demon that takes great pleasure in putting graffiti on the memorials to the newly-departed; I'm sure that demon lives an eternity away from God's Love.